AMES, Ia. — In November 2016, Kene Nwangwu ripped off a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown against No. 18 West Virginia. The run showed, yet again, that the freshman appeared to be a star in the making.

Four months later, the do-it-all running back was limited to toe touches and calf raises.

Iowa State’s fastest player — who averaged 26.4 yards on kick returns in 2016 — injured his Achilles’ tendon during spring ball before last season. Nwangwu underwent surgery, ending his sophomore campaign months before it began.

So, while his teammates put together the program’s best year since 2000 and kickstarted the Cyclones buzz spreading throughout the state, Iowa State’s fastest player watched from the sidelines.

Just waiting to get back out there.

Now, he is.

"Before my injury, it was like, 'All right, we’re playing football,'" Nwangwu said at Iowa State’s media day. "I loved the game of football. But after you get injured and come back, it’s like, 'Wow — you actually get to be out here running, cutting.' Every practice I go to, I try to make sure I’m going 100 percent."

With a smile, he added: "If (coaches) want to split me out wide, if they want me to have me in the backfield — whatever they want me to do, I’m going to do it."

Nwangwu kept that smile painted across his face for most of media day. He’s fully confident in his ankle and "just ready to play" again.

It’s a stark contrast to how Nwangwu said he felt last spring. He hit his low point right when the injury first happened. He started Googling Achilles’ injuries and trying to find out whether athletes could ever fully recover — Kobe Bryant was a name that popped up a bunch.

"That was one of the most difficult parts of it for me — just to be able to trust my ankle again," he said. "Just to be able to know that, 'I can make that cut or I can make that read,' and not worry about my ankle giving out on me.

"But just the training staff we have, the coaches that surround me, my teammates — they brought me through that."

After the surgery, Nwangwu wasn’t allowed to run for six months. That’s where the toe touches and calf raises came in. Any exercise Nwangwu could do while standing in place, he would do it. Eventually, as he was allowed to move more, he graduated to pool workouts and other individual exercises.

Nwangwu said his time away from the field significantly improved the mental side of his game. He had no choice but to closely observe his teammates during every practice.

"It’s more taking mental reps — two-fold," he said. "You go out there, you watch it, and then you go back in the film room and you watch them practice. You’ve just got to stay on the edge even though you're not on the field.

"I think that just elevated my game to the point where, say, my freshman year I didn't get a lot of reps or I was trying to focus on kickoff returns. Now, I could take this year to sit back and just actually watch the progression of our O-line and watch where the reads are going and what type of reads (my teammates) were making. It helped me out."

"He's learned to be more patient," Scheelhaase said. "You want to allow blocks to happen to use your vision. So those are things he knew he had to learn, he knew he had to grow in."

Nwangwu ran again six months after his surgery during an in-season practice, and he said he started feeling confident in his ankle again during the team’s bowl prep.

He’s back to his freshman year form — back to being Iowa State’s fastest player. Now a redshirt sophomore, Nwangwu doesn’t know how he’ll be utilized this year. Scheelhaase said he anticipates him "definitely" factoring into the return game again.

For his part, Nwangwu is just excited to be back. And he’s not the only one.

"Blessed to have him back," star running back David Montgomery said. "God gave him another opportunity to come back and play the game he loves. I’m just excited to see what this guy is going to do. He’s very fast. You’ve seen what he does on kickoff returns, and you’ll see what he’s going to do it at the running back position. It’s second to none. It leaves a question mark there, like 'What is he going to do?'

"Because he has no cap for what he can do."

Matthew Bain covers college football and basketball recruiting for the Des Moines Register. He also helps out with Iowa and Iowa State football and basketball coverage for HawkCentral and Cyclone Insider. Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.